World is CAMO's community

Published: June 19, 2000 12:00 AM

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Living and working in Orrville has been a paradox to Central American Medical Outreach executive director Kathy Tschiegg.

While the community has been supportive of the organization, there are still many who don't support CAMO because "they want to contribute to an organization that supports the community," Tschiegg said.

"There are so many good people in this community," she said from the CAMO warehouse on Westwood Avenue. "But oftentimes I hear from the people that they can't donate to CAMO, money or time, because they want to give to the community."

But the community, Tschiegg says, is the world.

"I challenge everyone to take off their small community head and realize that we are a greater community now," she said. "We can't keep using the resources of the world and not give back."

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Tschiegg incorporated the non-profit, volunteer-based CAMO in 1993 after spending her early college years serving in Honduras with the Peace Corps.

CAMO, a nondenominational Christian organization, supports and strengthens the Hospitale de Occidente in Santa Rose de Copan with donated medical equipment and supplies, but also ongoing training and implementation.

The organization has been supported and acknowledged by the Honduran Minister of Health and the nation's First Lady Mary Flores as one of the best non-governmental organizations working there, Tschiegg said.

In addition, she said, professional colleges of nursing and the state and city governments in Honduras have bestowed merits of honor on the organization.

"We don't just take supplies and drop them off," Tschiegg said. "All the equipment is in working order and being a developmental organization, we train the Honduran doctors and nurses to use the equipment. The hospital doesn't depend on our teams. When we send a team down to Honduras from the area, they are providing support and continuing education."

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Through her dedication and commitment to helping the humble and impoverished people, she has demonstrated that with a mission and prayer, the hard work of numerous volunteers through the years has paid off.

"CAMO is successful because we accept people on their own journey and their own grounds," she said. "Because people come from a different walk of life doesn't mean that they can't serve in the spirit of Christianity.

"I had two volunteers recently who were outright atheists," she said. "And we accepted them for what they are, where they are coming from. After being in our group and working with us, they approached me about finding a church that would also accept them in a non-pushy way."

One philosophy that has made the organization a success has been her approach to matching work with volunteers. "We don't force people to do things where they feel uncomfortable going," she said. "We give them work that they are good at doing so they not only want to step up to the plate, they will feel satisfaction and gain experience in the process."

CAMO has proved to be a good organization for both monetary and voluntary donations, Tschiegg said.

According to an accountant's compilation from 1993-99, CAMO received just over $39,000 in cash and medical equipment donations in 1993.

By the end of 1994, that amount had increased to $322,500 and kept increasing to the current $2.1 million which expanded to include medical services, warehouse, land and vehicle donations. Total operating expenses in 1993 were $11,000. But at the end of 1999, operating expenses were $1.7 million.

"CAMO is currently supporting five people in Honduras and three people in the U.S. on $128,000 in wages," Tschiegg said. "I challenge any church or mission to do what we're doing on that amount.

"We are serving the poor who need it," she said. "These are people who cannot possibly have anything without our help."